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Stanley Cup Final: Meet the Rangers fans behind the most famous sign in hockey history

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On June 14, 1994, Rangers fans Dave (left) and Steve (right) Zaretsky held up one of the most famous signs in sports history. Mike Zaretsky (bending in front of the sign) is the one with the good penmanship. (Original photo taken by and provided to the family by Sports Illustrated) Sent DIRECT TO SELECTS Monday, June 02, 2014 16:30:21 2988 3982
(Courtesy of the Zaretsky family)

Will my kids be able to see a Stanley Cup in my lifetime? I hope so. But I won't be disappointed if they lose in the finals this time.'' -- Steve Zaretsky, whose 1994 sign said he could die in peace after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup

They did not die in peace. We should start there because, well, you had to wonder, right? The Rangers last won the Stanley Cup in 1994, and while that is not an eternity for a fan base that once suffered for a half century, a lot can happen in 20 years.

A lot did happen in the 20 years between that time and the Rangers return to the Stanley Cup Final this spring. Steve and Mike Zaretsky both got married and had two kids, making their dad Dave a proud grandfather. They all continued attending Rangers games as a family, becoming friends with many of the players they once cheered on from Section 72 in the old Madison Square Garden.

Oh, and over those 20 years they probably told the same story a few thousand times, often to disbelieving ears, about their claim to fame in Rangers lore. They are the fans who, on June 14, 1994, held up what has to be the single most famous and greatest sign in sports history.

“NOW I CAN DIE IN PEACE”

Those six simple words were written, in perfect block letters, on a long sheet of paper from the printing company where Dave and Mike Zaretsky worked. The three men unfolded it as the Rangers celebrated their first title since 1940, and when enforcer Nick Kypreos held the Cup out for their section to see, a photographer from Sports Illustrated captured a moment that summed up the emotions of an entire city.

The words would be printed on T-shirts and book covers, and in later years, become the rallying cry for every long-suffering fan base. But the three men who made them happen? They were lost to history.

“No one used our names,” said Steve Zaretsky who, like his twin brother, lives in Bergen County. “We’ve always just been referred to as, ‘The guys who held up the sign.’”

# # #

In truth, they held up a lot of signs back then. It was their thing, one that all of the season ticket holders around them embraced. Once, they printed up a dozen signs with the catchphrase of former broadcaster John Davidson – “OH MY!” – and held them up after a big goal. That photo made the papers, too.

“J.D. had one framed in his office,” Steve Zaretsky said.

Then, after a crushing second-round loss in 1992, Mike Zaretsky ended up in a few newspapers and magazines when he held aloft a sign that would give inspiration for their most-famous effort.

“Just once before we die … PLEASE!”

Two years later, they were caught up in that incredible Rangers run with so many others, living and dying with every game. Dave Zaretsky, now 71, started getting season tickets in 1972, back when the Cup drought was a mere 32 years and counting, and his sons grew up in the Garden.

A screen shot from Game 7 in 1994 made the sign, but not the men holding it, famous. Courtesy of the Zaretsky family

So they wanted something memorable for the Stanley Cup finals. A coworker, Dan Riley, suggested they stick with the dying theme, and it took just a minute for Mike to rip a sheet off a printer and make it. They kept the sign hidden through three agonizing periods until, finally, Sam Rosen yelled the words they had waited forever to hear.

“This one will last a lifetime!”

They already had newly minted championship hats – Mike bribed a concessionaire $50 to sell him three before the game had ended – when they proudly held up their sign. The TV cameras caught a quick shot of it, and at least a dozen newspapers mentioned it.

But the real fame came from that photo. Dave, in a yellow shirt, is standing on the left. Steve, in a Rangers jersey, is on the right. Mike is bent over in front of the sign – bad news for him, but good news for the photographer – and a few fans in front of them reaching out as if Kypreos was about to pass the Cup to them.

(For the true Rangers fans: The kid in the red hat is Matt Rosen, the announcer's son, who now does play-by-play for a college in Arizona.)

A few weeks later, the Hockey Hall of Fame called. It wanted the sign for an exhibit on the Rangers. But Steve Zaretsky, who along with his father and brother had enough connections to get into the locker room after the game, had left it in a spot under the arena. It was gone when he went to reclaim it.

“I don’t know if somebody took the sign because they thought it was big,” Steve Zaretsky said, “or if they were just cleaning up.”

# # #

Years passed. The Rangers returned to their usual state of agonizing futility. Steve Zaretsky hired a lawyer to sue a company that used the phrase on a T-shirt, but when victory in court seemed unlikely because of its commonness, he settled for six dozen of the shirts.

The six words lived on. Few, however, knew who held up the sign, and finding them this week was no easy task. A Rangers spokesman had no clue. A comprehensive newspaper database search came up empty. Finally, a plea on Twitter led to the names, and that led to a couple awkward phone calls.

“I do have a brother named Steve,” said another Mike Zaretsky, if you can believe that, “but we’re not really hockey fans.”

Finally, Steve Zaretsky returned a call. He explained how, because he has told the story so often, he created a website – nowicandieinpeace.com – just so people can see the photo.

Then, a couple years ago, the NHL called. A documentary reliving the ’94 Cup run was in the works, and the story would be told through the memories of the diehard fans. “Road to Victory” is in heavy rotation on the MSG Network now, which has helped the Zaretskys become Garden celebs.

And they’ll be there, in their seats in what is now Section 108, for Games 3 and 4 and (maybe) 6. “Will my kids be able to see a Stanley Cup in my lifetime?” Steve Zaretsky said. “I hope so. But I won’t be disappointed if they lose in the finals this time.”

Which is the right thing to say, of course, for a man who vowed 20 years ago that he could die in peace.